Verendrye, North Dakota
{{Short description|Ghost town in North Dakota, U.S.}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{infobox settlement
|name = Verendrye, North Dakota
|pushpin_map = North Dakota#USA
|pushpin_label = Verendrye
|coordinates={{coords|48.121110694063105|-100.73903325569248|format=dms}}
|image_skyline = Verendrye School.jpg
|image_caption = Abandoned Falsen School
}}
Verendrye was a historic unincorporated community in McHenry County, North Dakota, United States, located approximately {{convert|8|mi|spell=in}} northwest of Karlsruhe and {{convert|13|mi}} northeast of Velva within Falsen Township.{{cite gnis|id= 1032639 |name= Verendrye |entrydate= February 13, 1980 |access-date= April 16, 2012}} Although classified by the USGS as a populated place, it is considered a ghost town.
History
Image:David Thompson Monument.JPG
The community was first known as Falsen, founded in 1912 by Norwegian settlers, who named it for Norwegian statesman Christian Magnus Falsen.{{cite news |url= https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1408&dat=19400905&id=CERlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kJMNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1992,394811 |title= Writers Project Lists County Towns |work= Mouse River Farmers Press |date= September 5, 1940 |access-date= April 17, 2012}} Falsen was also the name of the station on the Great Northern Railway.{{cite web |last= Wick |first= Douglas A. |url= http://www.webfamilytree.com/North_Dakota_Place_Names/F/falsen_%28mchenry_county%29.htm |title= Falsen (Mchenry County) |work= North Dakota Place Names |access-date= April 16, 2012}} The post office was established with the name Falsen in 1913, but the name was changed in 1925 to honor Pierre de la Verendrye, an early French-Canadian explorer who was said to be the first non-Native American person to tour the North Dakota prairies.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=-RcUAAAAYAAJ&q=Verendrye |title= Origins of North Dakota Place Names |last= Williams |first= Mary Ann Barnes |publisher= The Bismarck Tribune |year= 1961 | page= 158 |oclc= 431626}}{{cite journal |url= http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/6/v06i03p283-313.pdf |title= The Upper Missouri Historical Expedition |journal= Minnesota History |pages= 213, 305 |publisher= Minnesota Historical Society |volume= 6 |issue= 3 |year= 1925 |access-date= April 15, 2012 |archive-date= October 20, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121020194508/http://collections.mnhs.org/mnhistorymagazine/articles/6/v06i03p283-313.pdf |url-status= dead }} The population of Falsen in 1920 was 75. The population of Verendrye in 1938 was 100.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0QIgVPju2eoC&q=Falsen |title= North Dakota: A Guide to the Northern Prairie State |author= Writers' Program of the Works Progress Administration |series= American Guide Series |year= 1938 |page= 274|isbn= 9781603540339 }} When the railroad switched to diesel locomotives, regular stops by steam trains at Verendrye for water and coal were no longer needed, beginning Verendrye's decline.{{fact|date=February 2025}} The post office closed in 1965, with mail being redirected to Bergen.{{cite web |last= Wick |first= Douglas A. |url= http://www.webfamilytree.com/North_Dakota_Place_Names/V/verendrye_%28mchenry_county%29.htm |title= Verendrye (Mchenry County) |work= North Dakota Place Names |access-date= April 16, 2012}} The last residents moved away in 1970, and a farm now occupies the townsite; the facade of the abandoned Falsen School is located on the property.{{fact|date=February 2025}}
Along with Norwegians, Falsen was originally settled by German-Russians from the villages of Kandel and Selz in Ukraine.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=9fh1AAAAMAAJ |last= Sallet |first= Richard |title= Russian-German Settlements in the United States |publisher= North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies |location= Fargo, North Dakota |year= 1974|isbn= 9780911042184 }}{{Better source needed|date=September 2014}}
A monument to the later North West Company fur trader and explorer, David Thompson, erected by the Great Northern Railway in 1925, remains on a hilltop overlooking the former townsite.
The Verendrye Electric Cooperative was established here in 1939 but relocated to Velva in 1941.{{cite web |url= http://www.verendrye.com/about/ |title= About Us |publisher= Verendrye Electric Cooperative |access-date= April 16, 2012}}
Geography
Verendrye is located in the Mouse River Valley along the route of the BNSF Railway.
See also
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://www.flickr.com/photos/afiler/sets/72157627620178169/with/6179408238/ Images of Verendrye] from Flickr
- [http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/62937/Falsen+Township,+Verendrye/North%20Dakota/McHenry+County+1929/ 1929 map showing Verendrye townsite] with school and two churches
{{coord|48|07|16|N|100|44|21|W|display=title}}
{{McHenry County, North Dakota}}
{{authority control}}
Category:German-Russian culture in North Dakota
Category:Ghost towns in North Dakota
Category:Geography of McHenry County, North Dakota
Category:Unincorporated communities in North Dakota
Category:Norwegian-American culture in North Dakota
Category:Populated places established in 1912
Category:1912 establishments in North Dakota
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